Lot 98: f - Domenico Pellegrini Galliera Veneta 1759 - 1840 Rome , Venus and Cupid

signed and indistinctly dated lower left.: D Pellegrini / 1792 (?) oil on canvas

measurements note 103 by 144 cm., 40 ½ by 56 ¾ in.

London, Royal Academy, 1793, no. 281.

Domenico Pellegrini was born in Galliera in Italy and studied first in Venice and then in Rome under Domenico Corvi. He came over to London in 1792 at the encouragement of his fellow countryman Francesco Bartolozzi (whose portrait he had painted in Venice). This painting is one of the first he was to exhibit at the Royal Academy, and clearly reflects his Venetian heritage. Pellegrini continued to exhibit in London until 1812, but later returned to Rome.